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Ok… So I feel like I have wallowed in self-pitty for long enough. I have been home now for two weeks, and I have cried probably every day for those two weeks… Sometimes tears of depression about being away from Indonesia and my friends. Other times tears of frustration and pain because it hurts to move even a little. There were even tears for the unknown because I have no idea where I will end up after my surgery. I landed myself in the emergency room this past weekend because the pain became so unbearable and I had no pain meds to help me out. Ibuprofen just isn’t doing a damn thing and I couldn’t get an appointment to meet with the surgeon until June 1st. So its just time to manage the pain until I can get to that appointment.

Emergency Room

So even though I should be resting, I need to keep myself busy! Keep my mind occupied so that I don’t play the “What-If” game.

For mothers day, I decided to make this awesome Samoa Bundt Cake recipe I found through my Pintrest addiction (if you are not on pintrest, check it out and start pinning away. I seem to pin recipes like nobody’s business). So Samoa Girl Scout cookies are my absolute favorite! So I knew when I saw this cake that is was a must try! It looks just like a GIANT Samoa cookie!!!! I am not the best at decorating cakes, but even if it wasn’t the prettiest cake, the taste was out of this world! I am talking… so good, it makes you wanna slap somebody. It was a hit with everyone, and there were willing volunteers to take the remaining cake with them when they left the gathering.

Samoa Cake

I have also started knitting again. Since I am laying down 99% of the time, it is good to keep my hands busy. My grandparents have been kind enough to set up a pretty awesome TV in my room, and my mother has supplied me with a BlueRay DVD player, so I can’t complain at all. I have spent days watching TV and knitting. I am currently working on “Man Knits”.. I don’t have a man in my life… but I do have friends. So I will be gifting. I discovered Stephen West the other day, and instantly fell in love with all of his work. If you are a knitter or know someone who knits check him out. So I ordered his book (it came in today… It kind of felt like Christmas), “West Knits- Book Three” and started this slouchy hat (Dustland Hat Pattern). Its a pretty awesome pattern, and is knitting up quite quickly. I am making it for my devastatingly handsome friend, Travis. I hope he likes it… or at least to take a few pictures of himself wearing it. So Finished project pictures are soon to come.

Dustland Hat

So I had a little bout with dehydration. I was only drinking one bottle of water a day, because I went from being in the heat 24/7 to being in the air conditioning and resting all the time.. So the need to drink didn’t really register. So a few problems came from that. Now I am drinking plenty of fluids. I had a few spill issues from drinking in a lying position (as you can well imagine) so my lovely mother took me to the Disney store so that I could pick up a much needed lidded cup. It is a known fact (well if its not, it should be) that Disney makes everyone feel better. Even if you are 28 years old. Anyhow… they are coming out with a new Disney movie, and a new Disney princess! She is from Scotland! How awesome is that. Her red hair and freckles instantly won me over. The movie is ‘Brave’ and I can’t wait to go to the movies and see it. SO anyhow, I found a ‘Brave’ lidded cup and left the Disney store with a huge smile on my face. And I am not ashamed to say that is has been well used since I have gotten it, and it does make me feel better every time that I look at it. (Don’t judge).

‘Brave’ Cup

I also got a new camera… by got I mean stole from my mother. haha. It is a Nikon D3000 DSLR. Its pretty nice. I am learning how to use it. I just purchased a cute book called “Beyond Snapshots” to give me a little bit of help on taking pictures that will rock your socks off. So I will be playing with that and posting my progress pictures (hopefully).

So though I have been a little down in the dumps about everything that is going on, I know that things are going to be ok. How do I know this. Because my mother took me out to P.F. Changs for some amazing Chinese food and my fortune cookie told me so! It might be grasping at straws, buy hey, it works for me.

My Fortune

So the Indonesian pictures and updates are on hold, but with luck I will be back there soon and filling you in on all of the wonders there. Until then, stick with me. I will try to keep my posts interesting!

Since I have been back and forth to the doctors and living in a hotel until I am medically released to go back to my village, I have a had a lot of time to do some reading, and our headquarters library is quite nice (its nice when books are free).

I just finished reading a book that was a very cute romance novel. A Matter of Class The synopsis from www.goodreads.com is as follows:

A Matter of Class

Reginald Mason is wealthy, refined, and, by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by title, a factor that pains him and his father within the Regency society that upholds station over all else. That is, until an opportunity for social advancement arises, namely, Lady Annabelle Ashton. Daughter of the Earl of Havercroft, a neighbor and enemy of the Mason family, Annabelle finds herself disgraced by a scandal, one that has left her branded as damaged goods. Besmirched by shame, the earl is only too happy to marry Annabelle off to anyone willing to have her.Though Reginald Mason, Senior, wishes to use Annabelle to propel his family up the social ladder, his son does not wish to marry her, preferring instead to live the wild, single life he is accustomed to. With this, Reginald Senior serves his son an ultimatum: marry Annabelle, or make do without family funds. Having no choice, Reginald consents, and enters into a hostile engagement in which the prospective bride and groom are openly antagonistic, each one resenting the other for their current state of affairs while their respective fathers revel in their suffering.

I found the story very engaging and hard to put down. I was very disappointed when the book was finished; not because of the ending, but because I read it faster than I thought. You might be able to guess the ending, but it is written in such a way that you are anxious to keep reading to see if you are correct in your assumption. (At least that is how is worked for me). If you are looking for a nice romantic read that will leave you feeling happy and warm inside, I highly recommend this book.

**Also if you do not know about www.goodreads.com check it out. It is a website that allows you to keep track and share all of the books that you have read. You can shelve them anyway you would like and write reviews and rate them.**

The book I am about to start I am very excited about. I had read about it on Amazon a while back and had decided that as soon as I was back in the States I would get it to read (If I could remember it after another year) or I would beg my mother to ship it to me (you are never too old to beg your

People of the Book

mother for things). Yet, When I was looking in our library after finishing A Matter of Class I found it sitting on a shelf just screaming my name! The beautiful black cover with gold and blue butterfly wings. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

I will be starting the book today so I can’t say for sure how the writing is, but it appears to be well written and very intriguing. It is inspired by a true story and is about a book conservationist named Hannah who is offered the job to work on the Sarajevo Haggadah which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. The book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. She discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient binding – an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair and begins to research everything and find out about where the book has come from and where it has been in its journey.

The book itself has gotten mixed reviews from people saying it is absolutely terrible to others saying it in amazing and inspiring… I will just have to judge for myself. I am very excited to get started.